20th Century Tales Forum

Charlene Virginia Smith Vick
Charlene Virginia Smith Vick, 91, of Benton died Wednesday, March 14, 2007.
She was born June 15, 1915, in Nashville, Ark., to Ben Smith and Anna Hutto Smith.
Mrs. Vick was a member of First Baptist Church of Benton and was retired from a career of teaching at Howard Perrin Elementary School in Benton. She enjoyed gardening, cooking and reading.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Volmer "Cactus" Vick; and her parents.
Survivors include her daughter, Angela Vick Hall and her husband Mel of Little Rock ; a son, Ben Vick of Rogers; and many other relatives and friends.
Funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Roller-Drummond Funeral Home in Little Rock.
Graveside service will be at 3 p.m. Saturday in the Nashville Cemetery in Nashville, Ark.
Family comments: She was a wonderful Christian mother who found great joy in doing special things for others.

Thank you so much for coming forward! I was really saddened when I read of your mother's recent passing. You must be supremely proud to know that your folks affected so many lives in and around Saline County.

Since we wrote these tributes of your daddy, I have read a couple of articles in the Benton Courier. Particularly, one was by David Hughes.

I had my Square Shooter's Card until I went into the military, so many moons ago. If I ever find it again, I'd frame it.

I seem to remember that he was more associated with Channel 4 than Channel 7 TV. Maybe not. But I DO know one thing: Your folks truly impacted our little town of Benton and cities beyond. My childhood will forever be the richer for having the wonderful memories that only (Mr.) Cactus Vick could muster.

Again, thanks for writing. We sure would like to hear a few stories sometime--and maybe a picture post, if you get the time. Everyone would be the richer for know about your parents. <><

I just read your message. Thank you for the kind remarks about my mother. She was my best friend and a wonderful & loving Christian mother. I appreciate your prayers, too. They help so much.
Take care.
Angela (Charlene & Cactus' daughter)

Thank you for your expression of sympathy regarding my sweet mother.
I appreciate all the wonderful things you had to say about my mother and daddy. I am very proud to have had such wonderful and loving Christian parents.
May God richly bless you.
Angela

I am related to you and your family. There has been a recent Vick family reunion. I did not go. I was contacted to find out if I knew any of Volmer's children. I have several Vick addresses. I can give them to you. I am Albert G. Miller. My grandmother was Ettie Mae Vick. I think that she was Que Vick's Sister. I believe Que was Volmer's Dad. I am about the same age as Bennie Q. I was born in 1946. I remember visiting Bennie in Benton when I was small. My wife remembers him at Henderson State. I have wondered what had happened to him. My wife said he moved to San Francisco, Calif. I do not remember you as you must be younger. Please e-mail me and let me know if I have found the right Vick. I live in Little Rock, 501-224-9759 home. Cell 501 612-9536. Albert Miller

Wow.... I was just sitting in my den thinking about the old days. I did a Google search for Cactus Vick and was surprised that I found this link. I am 64 years old and grew up in Sheridan, graduated from Henderson and was Big Brother to Ben in Sig Tau there. Ben performed as a character in the Little Abner cast at Dogpatch USA. I visited with Volmer and Mrs Vick many times there in Benton. I taught school in Bryant for seven years back in the late 60's. I was so fortunate to get to really meet my old Square shooting mentor way after I was too big to ride the horses he pulled behind his pick up. He was a great man married to a great lady. I wish I has stayed in contact with her before her death. I am blown away that I found this site. Angela, I never met you but Ben was a friend that I would like to say hello to. If you still read this site, please pass on to him that I am in Rison Ar. Only Goolsby in the book here. Been so long. He may not even remember me, but I have thought of your family many times.l There are many fans of Cactus out here. This has almost been a religious experience for me tonight.

I want to add another comment about my Cactus Vick experience. I lived in Benton from 1967 until 1975 and spent several visits in the kitchen of the Vicks. I have met a few celebrities in my life and most have a public face and private face. Most times the faces don't match. Let me say, the Volmer hooking up the merry-go-round was the same man sipping coffee in his kitchen. He was a kind sincere man that never knew he was a celebrity. He was aware of his image and knew kids admired him and were proud to be known as a square shooter. That little piece of paper was a badge of honor. I lost my card decades ago, but I still can see Volmers smile as he talked those years ago. There are no heros like him for the kids today. Oh, Wait, I forgot, they do have PeeWee Herman. Can you imagine a mother going to a shopping center and giving custody of her child to a smiling man in a straw hat and cowboy outfit blowing up balloons. Then her disappearing into a store for thirty minutes. Thank you God for putting me on this planet in a time when life was FUN. Mrs Vick was just as sweet. I remember her being just like Aunt Bea of Mayberry. She loved her family and she loved being an educator. Both of the Vicks were responsible for molding the character of thousands of young minds by living lives that would be great models for all of us. Both were for me.

Not sure if you remember the King kids (Mike, Joe, Jim and Julie) from Benton. I think at least 2 of us were in your sweet mom's 2nd grade class (and I believe you were in school with either Mike or Joe). What a wonderful teacher she was! She instilled a love for learning about everything inside of me that I have never gotten over. Her songs of "There's a hole in the bucket", "Anne Bolen - With her head tucked underneath her arm...", "I don't know why she swallowed a fly", and "There's a bump on the log" all had us kids rolling with laughter as she dramatized them while we sang. She had as much fun in our class as we did and we knew it.

In this day of political correctness overdrive, I remember a great lesson your dear mother taught a little blonde haired, brown eyed little girl. You see, my grandmother was VERY old school. She would have been well over a hundred by now. She spoke the language of her era and was not apologetic for it. She counted the people across the tracks as her friends and they would come up 2nd street and trade vegetables out of their gardens for her hot peppers. The color of their skin did not matter to her. She had a keen eye for character flaws though and would call one out in a minute if she didn't trust you. Everyone respected her and she respected them. Still, she called them what she'd always called them, the "n" word. She never used that word in disrespect. Now, if she called you a thief, a cheat, or a liar, you knew you'd been disrespected, but not the "n". That was just another one of her "friends" and she had many of them. Your mother, Mrs. Vick, knew that I thought the world of my nanny and would never believe she was saying anything in any way to hurt her friends. The day she overheard me talking to my friends in the same manner as my nanny; she pulled me over to the side, hugged me up close and talked to me. She explained to me that as times change, people and rules also change, but sometimes older people don't understand the changes or can even remember them.

Then Mrs. Vick told me how we had changed the rules of calling people the "n" word or any other word so we didn't hurt our sweet friends' feelings. She said it in such a way that I didn't feel scolded at all, I didn't feel bad towards my Nanny, or my friends. Most of all I knew I had not hurt my dear teacher. I have drawn on this experience so many times in my life in sharing with children a different approach than the way they are headed and I have had many come back to thank me later. Your parents always showed respect to us kids as well as other adults. That meant a lot to me even then.

Being in her class, we got to see Cactus Vick 3 or 4 times that year. I only remember him bringing the carruosel one time, but he would come read to us, talk to us about important things like what our world would be like when we got older and what we would do. I distinctly remember him coming one day towards the end of the year. He brought your mom some flowers and Twinkies for all of us kids. Then he started telling us about what great kids we were and how much he appreciated us being so good for his sweetheart. He told us of how much he loved her and how he'd "rope a 1,000 horses" for her. The whole time she sat over there hanging on his every word but shaking her head as she laughed. He thought she hung the moon and she thought he had. Being from a divorced family that was very broken at the time, this was exactly what I needed to see. Your dad was a great man and definitely a hero in my eyes; and your mom? They just don't get any better than her!